blackboy

== English == === Alternative forms === black boy === Etymology === From black +‎ boy. For sense (plant of genus Xanthorrhoea): from a supposed resemblance of the plant to an Aboriginal boy holding an upright spear. === Pronunciation === === Noun === blackboy (plural blackboys) (Australia, obsolete, possibly offensive) An Aboriginal boy or servant. 1898, Guy Boothby, Billy Binks—Hero, republished in Ken Gelder, Rachael Weaver, The Anthology of Colonial Australian Adventure Fiction, page 118, A moment later he beckoned the blackboy to his side, and when he arrived pointed to the ground. The boy gesticulated in answer, and then both pulled their horses to a standstill and waited for me to come up. (Australia, informal) Any plant in the genus Xanthorrhoea, native to Australia. 1966 November 8, Parliament of Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, page 2181, The gum from the blackboy trees was used for the making of varnish and stain, […] 1977, Royal Society of Western Australia, Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, Volumes 60-61, page 5, As with any fire, blackboys and sedges were the first to grow, little else appearing before the first rains, which were followed by a flush of herbaceous shoots. ==== Synonyms ==== (Xanthorrhoea plant): balga (X. preissii), grasstree/grass tree, yakka (yacca/yacka) (South Australia)